A Journey Through Arrival of the Spanish: The Culture and Heritage of Miami

Miami is a city that is located southeast of Florida, in the United States. It is around the Miami River, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, it is the most central and main city of the Miami Metropolitan Area.

Currently Miami is the county seat of Miami Dade , it is the seventh most populous city in the country. It is considered a global city of great importance in national and international trade, finance, entertainment, media and art.

A journey through the history of Miami

The first to arrive in 1498 to Lake Chesapeake, in the State of Florida, were Américo Vespucio and Vicente Yánez Pinzón. On April 2, 1513, fifteen years later, Juan Ponce de León arrived. This was the day of Easter Florida and for this reason he gave the name Florida to the area.

The area was inhabited for thousands of years by Indian tribes and when the Spanish sailor arrived it was occupied by various tribes. Among the tribes found were the Miami Indians, who gave their name to the river and later to the city.

Juan Ponce de León is appointed in 1514 Adelantado de La Florida, so that he will be in charge of calming the Indians. In 1521, in a fight with the Indians, he was wounded with an arrow and because of this he died shortly after in Havana.

The area of Florida after these events received several Spanish expeditions, which tried to conquer it for the Spanish. But they were all failures, another conquest was attempted when the Viceroyalty of New Spain was established, which also failed.

In 1566, a new expedition departed from Cádiz, led by the Spanish Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. After a year they reach the territory of the Tequesta Indians and found the first city in the United States. This is how Spanish rule began in what is currently the State of Florida.

King Felipe II of Spain appointed Pedro Menéndez de Avilés as governor of La Florida and commissioned him to strengthen the coasts. The result of this is the construction of the Tampa and Santa Elena forts.

Arrival of the french

After several years, another group of Spanish soldiers led by the Jesuit Francisco Villarreal founded the mission of Tequesta . To do this they settled at the mouth of the Miami River . Their objective was to retain the Spanish population, but they did not achieve it and they had to leave the Miami area .

Since the 17th century, the Spanish were attacked by the English on several occasions. At the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed where Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain.

But twenty years later, Spain recovers Florida with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, ending the war of independence. The United States in 1810 claims Florida from Spain.

Spain sold Florida to the United States, this was done with the signing of the Adams Onís Treaty. By the beginning of the 18th century, the territory was occupied by various Indian tribes and the Seminole people were created .

This town lived through three wars and in the third the Seminoles were defeated and had to emigrate. Some of them he allowed to stay in Florida, but in the Everglades area .

By 1935, a peace agreement was reached that was signed by the Seminole descendants and the United States government.

The city of Miami is founded

As the wars with the Seminoles end , new settlers settled in Miami, as did some soldiers taken in by the government's offer. But some settlers with greater economic power convince tycoon Henry Flagler to bring the railroad to Miami.

The train to Miami is inaugurated in 1896 and plans to build a city begin. The city of Miami was founded on July 28, 1896, when a group of citizens met to appoint their rulers.

In the 20th century, Miami's history changed, doubling its population in the 1920s. Due to the scant application of dry law and the permissiveness of gambling, thousands of people from other parts of the country will settle in Miami.

The cost of living became unbearable for the inhabitants and a hurricane devastated the city, bringing about the Great Depression. But Miami can get ahead with the help of the construction industry and aviation.

At present it is an important financial, commercial and services center linked to leisure and entertainment.